A fluke goal by Arthur Masuaku in the 87th minute gave West Ham a 3-2 win over Chelsea this morning, a result that knocked the visitor off the top of the English Premier League.
Chelsea led twice through Thiago Silva’s header and a sublime goal from Mason Mount, but West Ham came back both times with a penalty from Manuel Lanzini and Jarrod Bowen’s low shot from the edge of the area.
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And with just under four minutes remaining, Masuaku swung a speculative cross in from the left wing which veered toward goal and caught Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy by surprise. Mendy dove to keep the ball out but only managed to push it inside his own near post.
It meant Chelsea dropped from first to third after Manchester City and Liverpool won. City tops the standings one point ahead of Liverpool and two in front of Chelsea.
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After the match, even Masuaku conceded his goal may not have been part of his plans.
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“We are not good enough in the details at the moment,” Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said. “We need to care about the details, not start asking big questions or doubting the big picture. Without the big mistakes there was a big chance we win this game.”
For David Moyes’ West Ham, it was another impressive win after also beating Liverpool 3-2 at home in the league and eliminating both Manchester clubs from the League Cup. And it ensured the Hammers will remain in fourth place after this weekend.
Chelsea took the lead in the 28th minute when Mount swung over a corner and Silva’s thumping downward header beat Lukasz Fabianski, who got a hand to the ball but could only touch it onto the inside of his far post.
Silva then had a crucial intervention at the other end, being in the right place at the right time to block Vladimir Coufal’s shot on the line after it beat Mendy.
But West Ham was gifted an equaliser when Mendy made a mess of collecting a weak backpass from Jorginho and then had to bring Bowen down in the area. Lanzini then sent Mendy the wrong way from the penalty spot.
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Mount restored Chelsea’s lead a minute before the break when he met Hakim Ziyech’s cross-field pass with a well-struck volley for his fifth goal of the season.
But Bowen levelled again in the 55th with a shot that went through the legs of a defender and past an unsighted Mendy and into the far corner.
Bowen came close to giving West Ham the lead but instead it was Masuaku’s attempted cross that inflicted Chelsea’s second defeat of the season.